The Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, gave a briefing to journalists in the Press Office of the Holy See at 12:30 PM Monday afternoon, during which he clarified the following points.

Catholics will be deeply shocked and, in most cases, dismayed by this decision, which I see above all as an act of self-sacrifice by a man not prepared to see the Church suffer as a result of his increasing frailty.

Italian cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals, said Monday that Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement he was stepping down from the helm of the Catholic Church was a “bolt out of the blue”.

Pope Benedict XVI has said on numerous public occasions including his most recent interview book that were he to come to the judgment that he did not have the physical stamina left to give the church the leadership it deserved, that he would abdicate.